Brave and the Bold #83 (On Sale: February 25 1969) has a Batman and Teen Titans cover by Irv Novick. Strange that in the midst of Mr. Cover, Neal Adams' run on B&B that we would find a cover by Irv Novick. Maybe the Enemy Ace story Neal did this month for Joe Kubert took too much of his time. "Punish Not My Evil Son," featuring Batman and Teen Titans is by Bob Haney, Neal Adams and Dick Giordano. While Batman is investigating the theft of oil from the Zenith Oil Company, Bruce Wayne is given custody of Lance Bruner, the orphaned son of Thomas Wayne's closest friend. Lance is a delinquent, forcing Dick Grayson to cover for his new brother. Even with the help of the Teen Titans, Dick is unable to keep Lance from staging his own kidnapping.
When an agent of the corrections department informs Bruce about Lance's criminal past, the boy pleads with his custodian to stay. Lance receives another chance and uses it to discover Batman's secret identity. He then takes the information to Grantland Stark, the head of the oil thieves.
Stark and Lance set Batman up. The Caped Crusaders are captured, and Robin is nearly killed. The Teen Titans come to Batman's aid. Lance, having witnessed Robin's sacrifice, reforms and confronts Stark. He is killed while protecting Batman and helping to capture the oil thief. Reprinted in Best of the Brave and the Bold #6, Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams Vol. 1 HC, Showcase Presents the Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups Vol. 1 TPB and Showcase Presents: Teen Titans Vol. 2 TPB.
Edited by Murray Boltinoff.
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1 comment:
Yeah, I know what you mean about the non-Neal Adams cover. Among this classic run of B&B's from 68-69, this has always stood out as "the one Adams didn't do." Fortunately, he drew the story. Often during this period, you'd see the great Adams cover, only to find some vastly inferior artwork inside. So this was an interesting reversal of the norm. That said, this isn't a bad cover. Batman in particular looks pretty dynamic.
This was also one of the best B&B stories from that time. I wasn't a huge Teen Titans fan, but the story emphasized the father-son dynamic which was something us pre-teens could relate to. And the ending was very poignant.
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